T HE USUAL fertilizer response analysis is concerned with determining optimum applications of nutrients via an estimated production function where nutrient applications are made at planting time or thereabouts, and the crop is harvested in total at maturity. This paper deals with a special type of fertilizer response problem encountered with certain specialty crops such as melons, fresh market tomatoes and cucumbers, wherein harvest occurs as a continuous process rather than at a single point in time.Multiple harvest periods would create no unique problems in determining optimum fertilizer application rates except that (1) product prices are generally variable throughout the harvest season and (2) nutrients frequently interact to affect ripening or maturity dates as well as affecting total yield. That is, application of one element may increase total yield for the season but delay maturity (i.e., lengthen the time between planting and ripening) while the application of a second element may hasten maturity. Interestingly, the methodological problem discussed in this paper falls between the usual fertilizer response problem and the livestock feeding problems where inputs (feed) are applied at time intervals, and output (gain or milk) is realized at time intervals also.' Specifically, it is the purpose of this paper to propose one method for determining optimum fertilizer levels for crops with multiple harvest periods and to provide an empirical illustration of the procedure using experimental data on cantaloupe production.
The Data UsedData for the following analysis were derived from an experiment conducted on Panoche clay loam soil." The soil was relatively fertile in that it had been cropped to well-fertilized irrigated crops for a number of .. Giannini Foundation Paper No. 241.
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